May 22, 2016

The beauty of Chattisgarh lies not
only in its natural environs and its rich dense forest cover, but it also offers
you a fascinating study of anthropology, ancient customs and traditions.

Thanks to technology seeping into even the remotest part of the country and with the increasing adaptation of
new-fangled modern ideas, the tribals of Chattisgarh have become greatly
urbanized. But they still follow a lot
of their ancient customs and we were lucky to experience a few of them first
hand.

The first were the Shamans. A
village near the Kanker palace was celebrating a festival that included
worshiping the local deity and this is where we came face to face with the
Shamans.

Most of the Chattisgarh tribes worship either animals or nature in
some form or the other. Religion here is basic and non- complicated.

The Shamanas are supposed to be men
of God chosen in their childhood due to their unusual behavior and actions.
Spirits, sometimes malevolent but mostly benevolent are supposed to dwell in
them and the villagers believe that they are worshiping God through them.
Their actions when they are in a trance are not the actions one would expect
from a normal human being.

I went to see the shamans with a
lot of trepidation. The practical side of me didn’t want to believe in any of
this but then on the other hand I was very curious.

The village was just off the main road and was
almost a part of the main town. It had a very urban look to it, although a lot
of houses still had mud walls and thatched roofs and small vegetable gardens attached
to them. With the chicks and piglets running all around, it seemed that the
villagers were self-sufficient at least in their supply of vegetables and meat.

But there were a quite a few concrete houses also and a lot of local youths zipped
up and down on bikes.

I particularly liked the artistic manner in which the
house nos were written on the front wall.

We
could see a huge gathering in the center of the village and as we neared the spot
we could hear the sound of drums and pipes. We barely had time to take out our
cameras after reaching the spot when we saw the Shamans coming towards us. About
5-6 men, swaying from one side to the other, wearing yellow or Black Dhotis, a
heap of marigold garlands around their necks. Their hair was disheveled,
falling across their foreheads and their eyes rolled in their heads.

They had bells tied to their feet and some of them carried the ‘Ang Dev’ on their shoulders. Ang Dev is a long wooden staff with prayer flags hanging from it that represents the local deity.

The
shamans as was very obvious from their disjointed steps and zig zag way of
walking were in a trance and some of the villagers were supporting them stay
upright. They walked without purpose, first going in one direction then another
as if their bodies were not in their control and their feet were being directed
by an unseen force. The Ang Devs wobbled erratically on their shoulders and people
stepped nimbly out of the way to avoid getting hit from the staffs. They danced
or rather swayed their way from one house to another dragging along the people
who supported them. As they approached a house, the people in the house came
out to worship them by washing their feet with water and garlanding them.

This
particular worship was in gratitude for a good harvest. The Shamans went round
the village stopping at each house and eventually gathered in the village
square where the dancing and festivities continued.

The crowds
had swelled by now, and the swaying shamans, the strong smell of liquor, the smell of flowers,
the drums and the pipes was like an assault on the senses and at least for me it did not make for a very pleasant experience.

Everyone
was trying to look over the wall to see what the shamans were doing, while this
young lady deigned to give us a teeny weeny smile.

The
villagers might conceive the shamans to be divine and the swaying and dancing
and stumbling all a part of being in a trance but then we could also smell a very strong and distinct smell of the local liquor so we had our reservations
about how authentic the shamans actually were.

The
faces around me were a mixture of awe and devotion and only mine seemed to
have skepticism written over it. The tribal beliefs, unlike ours are
uncomplicated, simpler and non-judgmental. Honestly, If this gets them closer
to their god why not. It is better than a 100 complicated rituals.Perhaps this
is a better way to live than us city dwellers who tend to analyze, over think
and pass judgment on everything.

18
comments:

This was quite a unique experience, wasn't it Ruchira? Though I was a little nervous seeing all that swaying and dancing and not knowing which way the procession might move to. The Shamans not so much as the crowd which, led on by faith, tending to go beserk.

However, as you said, their lives and religion - who are we to be judgemental - is so much more simple and straightforward.

Thank you for your company on this trip. It would be nice if you could tag One Life to Travel at the end of this post.

Looking forward to the many others which will pour from the Nirjharini.

There is a type of mushroom that grows in the North East, it is akin to "magic mushroom"though the locals call it bullet mushroom. The medicine men or Ojhas over there use it to get into a trance. Tribal beliefs and worship are simple and similar everywhere it seems. Nice one

Interesting read. All Indian tribes have always brewed and distilled their own liqours and men and women both drink with gay abandon. Only the 'urbanised' ones do not admit that they drink :D The shamans and totem poles have been part of all tribal cultures around the world. They were always self sufficient but I feel they have also become confused and disoriented with the 'urbanisation' they are going through.

What an intriguing post! Like you, even I am skeptical about things that don't have logic backing them up, but once in a while I think we should give in. The charm of letting logic go and the legends take over makes for interesting stories to tell :)